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Green Building Guide

Wind Power

Wind power can be a clean
and cost effective alternative source of electricity. For rural
homes with a good wind energy resource, it is often a cheaper
option than solar power. As a basic guide, houses on the coast or
hills on exposed rural land have better wind resource, and houses
in urban or heavily vegetated areas, away from the coast, have less
wind.

Getting a good estimate of wind resource is the most important
step in ascertaining how much energy you'll be able to get out of
your wind turbine. If you live in a rural area and have plenty of
open space around your home, an experienced wind turbine installer
can estimate your wind energy resource, however such estimations
can be unreliable in the turbulent urban environment and in complex
terrain.

A turbulent site will not only reduce the power output of a
turbine, it will also significantly increase the wear and tear on
the machine. The best way to get an estimate of wind speed is to
measure the wind speed and direction on site, but this is rarely
cost effective for domestic scale wind turbines.

The small wind market has generally been dominated by horizontal
axis wind turbines, usually with two or three blades. Wind turbines
of up to 5kW in size are suitable for household use, with 1kW being
the most common size.

Small wind turbines generally cost up to $10,000, however this
may just be for a wind turbine and controller only. Towers,
inverters, meters, cables, batteries and installation costs must
all be factored in separately, and will take the total cost for a
quality turbine well into the tens of thousands.

Like solar power you can have your wind power system connected
to your mains power grid connection via an inverter. In some states
and territories, if you have a grid-connected system, you may be
eligible for a feed-in tariff and get paid for the clean, green
power you put back into the mains grid.

Before installing a wind power system check with your local
council for any planning or building permits you may require.